The central aim of information technology (IT) management in businesses is to generate value through the use of computing technology. Many businesses rely on a properly functioning IT infrastructure to execute and facilitate in their dealings. An IT infrastructure provides a means of moving data from one place to another and connecting multiple users or facilities.
Oftentimes a business' IT infrastructure will be centered in a data center containing electronics cabinets, from here on referred to as racks. IT equipment placed in these racks is electrically powered and as a result heat is produced as a byproduct of the electrical current passing through conductive mediums. Electrical equipment, such as the IT equipment in the racks, is subject to overheat if the temperature of the device exceeds the rated temperature threshold for proper operation; overheating can cause the equipment to malfunction and fail. One solution for maintaining the required temperature of the IT equipment, which in most cases are servers or switches, is to flow cold air over and around the internal components.
As cold air passes over the internal components of the device, some of the heat from the electronic components is transferred to the air being passed through the machine. This process utilizes the laws of thermodynamics to maintain the temperature of the equipment within the operational threshold. Air-cooled server racks operate in this manner by creating a pressure and temperature gradient; the cold air will be at a higher pressure and passively flow through the server machines to a warmer and lower pressure aisle. Alternatively, this can be achieved by actively forcing cold air into the space in front of the server racks, or actively drawing warm air from the back of the server rack. When each vacant unit of the server rack is filled by blanking panels or IT equipment, such as servers, switches/routers, backup power sources, aggregators, repeaters, etc., this system works well to direct the cold air through the electronic equipment and maintains the intended convection rate and temperature of the equipment. Any open slots on the front of the rack do not direct the cold air to pass through the equipment, and instead allow the cold air to flow through the open space (i.e., slots), which compromises the integrity of the cooling system created within the rack and datacenter environment.
In traditional air-cooled datacenters, the space in front of a server rack has cool air directed toward the IT equipment, and the space in the rear of the rack has hot air resulting from the exhaust from the IT equipment. The separation of cold and hot air is made at the front of the rack where the IT equipment usually mounts to supports. The IT equipment and the blanking panels create a substantially air-tight seal. All the area behind the seal formed at the front of the rack, including the space inside the rack, is relatively hot. A gap in the front seal, formed by a space unoccupied by equipment and not covered by a blanking panel, diminishes the flow of cold air through the equipment's electronic components, which in turn reduces the effectiveness and efficiency of the cooling system. Additionally, if the unoccupied space within a rack is large enough, it can allow hot air to recirculate within the unoccupied space and further compromise the integrity of the cooling system intended to be maintained within the rack/datacenter. The warmer air again does not allow for the required heat transfer rate to maintain optimal operational temperatures for the IT equipment. This trapped air continuously increases in temperature over time until it becomes hot enough to cause the IT equipment to fail.
Many modern racks are modeled so that the switches are placed at the rear side of the rack. One purpose of rear-mounting the switches is to aid in cable management. Racks containing one or more switches have a significantly higher concentration of cabling than racks in the datacenter containing no switches, making cord management critical and requiring both horizontal and vertical cable management. Cables are usually run from equipment that is front mounted with rear facing ports connected to the (front- or rear-facing ports) of the rear mounted switches. IT technicians working in a datacenter often change rack configurations to add or remove equipment as needed. Mounting the switches in the rear of the rack facilitates IT equipment swaps, component additions, and movement within the rack itself. This setup can also minimize the risk of a technician accidently unplugging critical components that must not be taken off-line.
While rear-mounted switches and other equipment with high density cabling introduce a number of benefits for server rack configurations and maintenance, it has also created new problems not yet solved by the prior art. Rear-mounted switches do not extend all the way to the front of the rack, creating cavities in the aforementioned seal between the hot and cold air. When there are open slots above and/or below a given IT equipment, the cold air enters through the open slots and not through the IT equipment. This reduces the heat transfer rate between the IT equipment and the cold air lowering the efficiency of the cooling system. When the seal between the cold and hot air is broken, the cooling system is unable to achieve the required heat transfer rate between the IT equipment and the cold air to maintain operational temperatures. One possible way to resolve this issue is to have the data center run cooling equipment with more power to reduce the cold air temperature more than would otherwise be necessary. However, doing so directly decreases the expected lifetime of the mechanical cooling equipment and also increases operational costs, both of which amount to additional expenses.
Several devices have been offered in the art in response to address the above problems. For example, active and passive duct systems have been proposed as a means of introducing cold air to rear-mounted switches. However, these systems come with a number of drawbacks. For example, the art of the active duct systems are designed to fully enclose the switches, and thus require removing the switch from the rack for installation. This is impossible in certain server/equipment configurations and would require a full shut down. In addition, the active duct systems of the prior art have complex assemblies and require installation at all four corners of a server rack. Installation can also be difficult to perform through the many wires that may already be in place in the server rack. Active systems also require wires and power sources of their own, adding to a wire scheme which may already be difficult to manage.
Thus, in view of the background in the area, there exists a need for a simple and effective means of preventing the mixing of cold intake air and hot exhaust air within the confines of a server rack. It would be beneficial to provide a blanking panel which provides an effective passive flow of cold air to a rear-mounted switch or equipment which is easily installable into a server rack and has an adjustable duct to take into account all depths of equipment and racks.